Nitish, Tejashwi create buzz in otherwise quiet Madhepura

Known as the cradle of socialist ideology and represented in the past by former Bihar chief ministers BP Mandal of the Mandal Commission fame and Lalu Yadav, Madhepura is a prestigious seat, where Mahagathbandhan candidate Kumar Chandradeep of the RJD is making his electoral debut against the sitting MP Dinesh Chandra Yadav of the JD-U, who is the NDA nominee.

Other important leaders having represented the seat include Rajendra Yadav, Ramendra Kumar Ravi and Sharad Prasad.

The RJD candidate this time is the son of Ravi, who was also the vice chancellor of BN Mandal University. Locals say he was a second choice, after Pappu Yadav, who also won the seat once in the past, declined to contest from here. Yet, Chandradeep, a professor of English, is working hard to create a buzz around him despite starting late.

The importance of the seat can be gauged by the fact that both chief minister Nitish Kumar and leader of Opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav have been frequently visiting the area.

Kumar has made Madhepura his transit camp and his presence there for over a week has galvanised the party cadres.

On Tuesday, he was in the road show in Madhepura town, while Tejashwi was attacking the NDA a few kilometres from there at Chausa. He will again hold a rally in Madhepura on Wednesday, while Nitish is likely to stay for another three days to visit nearby constituencies from here.

What is striking in Madhepura, like in most constituencies in Bihar, is the indifference of the voters and the intense heat wave. Yet, a large number of people gathered there for the road show and greeted the CM as he emerged from his car to board the “Nischay Rath” along with Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Jha and minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary. JD-U leader Nikhil Mandal, who was himself an aspirant for the seat not long ago, supervised the arrangement at the starting point ahead of Karpoori Chowk.

On the old saying “Rome hai Pope ka, Madhepura hai Gope ka”, former minister Narendra Narayan Yadav, who has been MLA from Alamnagar in Madhepura continuously since 1995, said it was a myth. “Madhepura is a land of socialists and even JB Kriplani came here. It is a place that does not believe in ‘Jaat’ (caste), but always goes with Jamaat (community). Here, caste politics has never succeeded. Madhepura has had the tradition of voting for development and it has experienced it in the last decade and half,” he added.

After the 2008 delimitation, Madhepura Lok Sabha seat comprises six Assembly seats — three each of Madhepura and Sahara districts. Of the six, five have NDA MLAs, while Madhepura Assembly seat was won by RJD’s Chandrashekhar, who was the education minister in the Mahagathbandhan government led by Nitish Kumar.

“Politics in Madhepura has its own arithmetic and the quietness of people can be often misjudged, as they are always decisive, though issues don’t seem to be a big factor,” said BN Mandal University professor Vimal Sagar, who has himself been without salary for months along with thousands of others due to stand-off between the Raj Bhawan and the education department.

Another BNMU professor, Pragya Prasad, said issues during election were invariably submerged in the campaigning din. “Even candidates no more concern the people, as the elections mostly revolve around the big personalities. Development is a factor, but that is measured in terms of infrastructure projects, which is easily visible, not the human development index,” she said.

Kuldip Razak, Sarpanch of Dhurgaon, said Yadavs alone could not make any difference in Madhepura, which goes to vote in the third phase on May 7. “They have always been divided here, as many of them traditionally vote for JD-U. The backward classes and extremely backward classes are crucial. This time, JD-U and BJP coming together has tilted the scale in favour of Dinesh Chandra Yadav,” he said.

Ashok Kumar, a college teacher, said that the voting in Madhepura seemed to be clearly in the name of Modi — both for and against. “The development in Madhepura in terms of medical college, engineering college, polytechnic, roads and bridges is apparent and that does affect voting. The five-kg free ration is also an attraction for the poor, who are yet to taste economic justice. However, despite all this, unemployment and migration remain the stark reality, which no political party wants to address,” he said.

There are eight candidates in the fray in Madhepura after seven nominations were rejected. The election will be held on May 7.